Following the conviction of Lev Tahor leaders Nachman Helbrans and Meyer Rosner on six criminal charges, they wrote a letter to their followers, who are currently traveling the world in a search for a country that won’t “persecute” them.
They started out the letter by writing that they were only doing the will of their Father in Shamayim. “These days, Rabbeinu, has been judged by the wicked Roman kingdom and they accused us of all their claims, and there’s a great furor that the leader of the sadistic cult Lev Tahor has been convicted.”
“Yes, we are happy to inform the Yirei Hashem that the fact that we’re guilty of transgressing the evil Roman laws isn’t something new but we’re guilty of this in every generation – of keeping the Torah HaKedosha and it’s considered a zechus and kavod for us.”
“The Torah Hakedosha commanded us not to delay the marriages of our sons and daughters,” the letter stated and then quoted sources from the Chumash and Gemara on the topic.
“We are subject to the true Da’as Torah from generation to generation and ada’raba in this generation we are obligated to be moser nefesh on this more and more and therefore we make efforts to marry our sons and daughters as early as possible and we have no fear of those who mock the ratzon Hashem.”
“And yes, the indictment began that the reshaim acted on behalf of a woman who left our kehilla, and forcibly kidnapped her married daughter from her husband against her will, saying she is still a minor according to chukos hagoyim. They forcibly took her to the wicked United States, where the wicked Eirav Rav held her in a psychiatric hospital and afterward in a closed house under the guard of an unmarried man. The girl cried out but there was no one to help her, she appealed to every possible source to take her out of her captivity but all her cries for help went unanswered.”
“When Rabbeinu heard this, he traveled especially to save her although he was well-aware of the inherent danger in it, and he took advantage of the first opportunity to save her, even on the day of Shabbos Kodesh (a source was quoted here from the Shulchan Aruch that one must save someone who is pursued, even on Shabbos).
“Even after the reshaim admitted that the poor woman herself asked for help, they still convicted Rabbeinu with the crime of ‘kidnapping’ and they added other charges, that we helped her return to her husband, and according to their abominable laws, getting married k’das Moshe V’Yisrael is an obscene act that is illegal.”
The letter continued that Lev Tahor has hundreds of proofs that the woman was “tortured” by her captors and that she married her husband willingly and with the consent of her parents…”but it’s clear to anyone who participated in this trial that they’re fighting against Hashem and His Moshiach.”
The leaders then continued with their complaints that the court refused to hear their version of the story but “all the baseless stories of our enemies and pursuers were accepted with great respect.”
The letter concluded with many quotes about serving Hashem under all circumstances, saying that despite their persecution, their spirit won’t be broken and “all the waters of the world will not wash away our love for Avinu She’BShamayim.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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26 Responses
just curious
where is shlomo helbrans buried???
if hes in fact dead
anyone has pictures of levaya
maybe hes living someplace and laughing at all of this?
While I support YWN publicizing the evil of this cult, and giving the Torah world the news of the conviction of two of the leaders, thereby enabling the Klal to rejoice, I am disturbed that this letter has been made public. It is so full of blasphemy and filthy lies that it doesn’t merit being exposed to Yidden anywhere.
This cult has trampled on Torah every step of the way. But, if this was just someone falling prey to their physical desires, we can look at finding a “kaf zechus”. But that’s not what has happened. The resho’im of Lev Tahor, who are certainly baalei taavah, are fundamentally anti-Torah. This is obvious in so many ways.
Anyone who excludes parts of Torah cannot claim to be following it. What would we say about a group that endorses only one cheilek of Shulchan Aruch? Would we accept a Rav if he did that?
The Torah gives us all the halachos needed about what is kosher to eat and what is not. But LT has their own set of rules. Is that kosher?
These resho’im are being mevatel all the Gedolei Yisroel of today and the past generation who advised against the marriage of minors.
The accusations against the authorities are blatant lies, and nothing more than fabrications. Did they strike מדבר שקר תרחק froom their version of torah? Well, Klal Yisroel did not, and we are not going to embrace or even believe these pathological liars. Sorry, but LT has zero credibility.
More blasphemous is their claim to Daas Torah, something that they violate every minute. Aside from apikorsim, they are horrible mechutzafim.
May the leaders and purveyors of apikorsus and abuse be banished from any proximity to Klal Yisroel. We do not need to be lovers of the court to be grateful for the conviction and anticipated incarceration of these dangerous filth. May Klal Yisroel be forever protected by Hashem from such resho’im. I see this first baby step as a positive move toward the Geulah.
these may well be the tzadikim in our generation.
WoW! pretty convincing!
Thank You YWN for not filtering it too much and allowing the other side to be spoken for the sake of journalistic integrity.
Why do you have to post this ?
The problem is that if any of their married girls grow up and get married they’ll be oiver aishes ish, because like it or not, they are halachically married to their overage husbands.
sad….. so now they will spend a long time in the wicked jail
All of a sudden, a 14 year old teenager is a “woman”…
I’m not sure what else you expected them to say. You thought they’d say “hey we were convicted by a bunch of goyim I guess our whole lives have been one big lie” ??
Is there any unbiased proof that she was abused. Cuz if she wasn’t, then this might be like the UK govt “decided” that Alta fixler wanted to die. Who said they kidnapped her, maybe it was her mother who kidnapped her from her husband.
I’m just asking a simple question. If anyone can prove to me that I’m wrong, then by all means.
Torah will triumph, the purveyors of lashon hara, evil lies against Lev Tahor will be judged.
According to the Torah, aka the creator of the universe-from whose air you breath and food you eat, there is NO difference between 13 and 18. A seminary girl 19, is no less a minor than 12.5 yrs old. Don’t say “overage , underage minor”. That kmat kfira.
I don’t know anything about lev Tahor and i could be totally wrong. I’m just asking simple e questions .
They certainly have a different perspective on the situation. They weren’t charged with violating halacha with the marriage of the underage girl but with violations of civil law. I assume that the girl testified in court as to what happened to her and that she doesn’t want to be reunited with her husband. I wonder how she will get a get if one is needed as the validity of aidim from the cult may be questionable.
As sickening as it might seem at first glance when you think about it they have a point.
According to din torah the father has the legal authority to marry off his minor daughter who is under 12 to anyone he chooses even against her will. As young as 3 or 4 can be married off to anyone and the father gets to keep any money offered for her kiddushin.
According to din torah a girl is considered adult when she becomes Bas Mitzvah at 12. which means she has the full right to agree to marry anyone she chooses and when she accepts the Kidushin she is legally married. There is no difference between a 12 year old and a 20 year old!
According to din torah any boy 13 and older can marry. There is no difference between 13 and 18. And NO PARENTS CONSENT is needed!
So if the Lev Tahor cult encourages teens 13 and up to marry girls 12 and up, this happens to be in tandem with with Torah Law. So what exactly is the reasoning behind those who are disgusted by this? Aren’t they in fact expressing a rejection Torah Law? I Understand the revulsion, and I understand the comparison to the Taliban, in fact this way of life is practiced very openly in Afghanistan today were poor fathers who have no money for basic necessity’s give their young daughters off to marriage for a price, sometimes to much older men. But in fact the Torah does not seem to have any objections to this kind of practice. Maybe we have to adjust our ideals to better match those of the Torah. It is never mentioned anywhere that this practice is to be discouraged. Especially that of young teens marrying. So perhaps they are right?
This is all sheker, these people are Tzaddikim
Why are so many above commentators literally afraid of seeing published what Lev Tahor has to say?
Hey motchah11, you write that these girls are halachically married. Do you have proof of that? Are there valid eidim? Was the marriage performed properly? How do you know all this, were you there?
This is sad reality of society:
Whenever people say motzi shem ra, people believe it.
Whenever, the ones spoken about are defended almost no one believes it.
@yaakov doe:
if the eidim are pasul, then the kidushin is also pasul
so, MIMA NAFSHACH!
@Binyanadead
im not a posek, but i beleive the burden of proof is on you. you might not like them, but there is no reson to assume the kidushin was pasul, without a svara
bigchoosid, according to din Torah men can have relations with umarried women even a girl at 12 years old. So are you ok with a man having relations with your daughter? According to din Torah men are allowed to do that if your daughter wants. According to din Torah a woman can have a wig down down her waiste and tight clothing, is that ok? Do you realize that one of the reasons the churban happened was because women wore blue eye shadow and had shoes that perfumed the area around them when they walked and yet it doesn’t even say in the Torah that women can’t do that!
There are numerous things that says in the Torah that we are “allowed” to do but that does not mean we can do it! That’s why we have REAL RABBONIM showing the way! Not your own paskening of halacha. There’s also daas Yehudis that is considered halacha and that means that marrying off a girl today is absolutely child abuse. Causing a girl to go through labor at 13+ is child abuse! There are reasons why people lived the way they lived millennia ago and the way they love now. Only a pervert can think that it’s ok that in this day marrying off young teen girls are ok. Do you realize that a 13 year old can have 20+ kids by the time they are 45 years old and that didn’t happen in the times when girls got married at 12 years old?! Do you even understand what it means to be a young girl and have a houseful of young kids?! It’s disgusting of you to stick up for this!
to “the little that I know”
What food is LT saying is kosher but is not kosher?
Hello philosopher you are totally wrong! According to Din Torah a man is NOT allowed to have relations with a woman without Chupa and Kidushin, extra-marital relations are forbidden the man transgresses the Issur of “Lo tehya Kedeisha bvmos yisrael” see rambam hilchos ishus 1:4, according to all poskim there is an “isur yichud” a man is not allowed to be in a closed room with a woman. So no it’s not ok for men to have extra- marital relations with women even if they consent!
You are also entirely mistaken about the concept of DAS YEHUDIS which means that Jewish Women should maintain a extra stringent level of Modesty “tzniyus” which is why they should not have tight clothing or immodest attire.
But Das Yehudis does NOT mean a women should not marry young.
When I say Din Torah I don’t mean only Torah Shebiksav the written Torah I include of course Torah Shbal Peh the Oral Torah and our Mesorah throughout the generations!
No where do we have any source that discourages young teens from marrying, in fact this was common practice in the times of Shulchan Aruch!
I suspect you would have the same opinion of this practice in those times. It’s just that you are OK with it because it’s not happening now so you can stay far removed from it but in reality you don’t agree with a concept that is OK according to Torah.
bigchoosid, aha, you are better than ALL of klal Yisroel who do not marry off their children at 12, 13, 14, and 15 and YOU think that YOU can decide what Daas Yehudis is when ALL of klal Yisroel does differently?! You have some chutzpah thinking that you are better than all of klal Yisroel. Even Teimene who married off their girls young just a few decades ago don’t do it anymore. All of klal do not marry their children under 18 years of age except for very few yotzei min haklal who think they know better. Marrying off girls under 16 years of age in this day and age is pure child abuse. As I said before, due to infant mortality and women’s bodies working differently, the average girl who married at age 12 or 14 in the times during history when they did marry at that age did not have as many children to take care of. Also, in the middle ages when women married at around 14 ( not 12) years of age, the average lifespan of people was much shorter than today and they needed to have their offspring ( most didn’t survive) young. Making a young child of 13 go through pregnancy and labor is child abuse.
But go ahead, defend those who do not follow the minhag of virtually ALL of klal Yisroel, from, Sephardic, Michrachi and Ashkenazi, and Teimene, from Chareidi to non-Charidi. THIS IS ALSO DIN TORAH, THIS IS DAAS YEHUDIS whether you agree with it or not.
Now as we pasken according to our gedolim, and not some Lev Tahor loonies who don’t even learn Gemorah and halacha, we pasken according to the gedolim of our times, go and ask a gadol if it is ok to marry off you child by 12-15 years of age. Most would not let you do that before 18, never mind, younger than 18 years of age. Buy no, YOU and the few loonies like you know better than our gedolim whose words ARE DIN TORAH!!!
Don’t judge, you have no authority, and stop the evil of your lashon hara, against Lev Tahor.
there is a point that the fact that these poor girls are married women, however it is a difficult one, because everything is choished, the eidim of the keddishin, if t was bichlal considered Midaytoh, and unfortunately to much more………
to @philosopher:
the beginning of what you said was fair enough, and very true, but after you seemed to just fall into sorry- a trance of speaking nonsense, as what you said had no meaning to it, sorry. example:
First of all, where are these real rabbonim showing the way ?! can I access them or are they only accessible to you?… Yes there are the Gedoilim in every generation, ….”K’Shmiel B’doiroi”…. but they can speak for themselves and don’t need people to talk in their name. Stop paskening yourself before you accuse others please… it’s offensive… You are absolutely right in what’s being done over there is wrong but that’s not what Das Yehudis means, sorry go ask those “REAL RABBONIM” you’re talking about, and they’ll tell you (hopefully- if they actually ARE real and do exist).
The point is, the rabbonim can deal with these issues, and everyone NOT in that crazy place will hopefully understand that it is not something we do, however for over there life can be well ye…. H’ should save them.